School: Rudolf Steiner School Norwich.  

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The School












We are an independent school for children aged from 4 to 13 years.  We occupy a handsome former primary school building on a quiet road, with easy access from Norwich, 6 miles away.  The school is adjacent to a meadow overlooking the River Bure, part of the Broadland conservation area that has national park status.  The fine coastline of north Norfolk is readily accessible.

The educational approach is firmly established on the work of Rudolf Steiner, pioneer of concepts of holistic and artistic education that centre on the needs of the growing child.  Eighty-five years after the first such school was founded, there are over 900 Rudolf Steiner/ Waldorf schools  in 43 countries, many of them very large, whilst in the U.K. there are 26 schools and about 50 kindergartens of various sizes. The school is affiliated to the Steiner Waldorf Schools Association of Great Britain. It is fully registered with the Department for Education and Skills.
 

threefold organization...
The Rudolf Steiner School, Wroxham, is administered by a registered Association, the Norwich Steiner School Association Limited, to which all parents may belong. The association is also registered as a charity.  The day to day running of the school is the responsibility of the full-time teachers.  All parents are taken to belong to the School Community Association.
 

kindergarten...
The school has a kindergarten for children aged from 4 to 6½ years.  The emphasis is on imaginative and artistic activities in a homely and informal setting.  Fairy stories are told and the children sing, paint, dress up and play together.  The school has a handy little puppet theatre which is used at times by both the kindergarten and by older children.  It has a range of home-made puppets of kings, princesses, animals and other characters. There is a sandpit and a Wendy house in the garden.  Much use is made of natural materials and there is, too a sense for the passing seasons of the year.
 

literacy...
Groups of children move on each September into a class in school, being taught by the teacher who will stay with them for a number of years.  The children hear many stories from mankind's cultural heritage, from mythology, from the Bible and from world history - mostly on the achievements of significant individuals.  There is emphasis on verbal skills of clear and accurate expression in English.  The approach to literacy initially is through stories, re-telling them in conversation - improving syntax and extending vocabulary - and writing about them.  The school curriculum is available to parents.
 

drama...
A feeling for the dramatic element in stories and enacting them calls forth an imaginative and lively response from children and it fosters individual and social development.  Plays are regularly performed, bearing many opportunities for sharing and giving, for memorizing and clear speaking, for imagination and movement.  There have been over fifty different productions of plays over twenty-five years, almost solely of class plays available within the movement. ( photos ) Some plays are produced in German and sometimes in French.  Literacy goes hand in hand with the growth of personality.  The school has a fine little stage, equipped with flying backdrops and theatre lighting.  There are festivals at least once a term when the various classes present their work for parents to hear and see. The Christmas festival is a major one for the whole school, there also being festivals at Easter, mid-summer and at Michaelmas.
 

music...
A feature of the school is the strength of musical life.  In class, children sing daily and they learn to play the recorder.  Tuition on a second instrument is encouraged, violin and piano lessons being available in school. There are four good quality pianos on the school premises, all of them fully available for the children to use.  Musical ability often needs awakening in children, but it is always latent and with practice ready to come to expression.  Music is an enhancer of soul forces and leads to many opportunities for social development and maturation.
 

maths.. languages.. science...
Skills in number and arithmetic, leading on to geometry and algebra, are regularly exercised.  Both French and German are taught, the emphasis being on oral experience though grammar is gradually introduced.  There is focus on the natural sciences - plant and animal studies, geology, all being taken in their relationship to the human being  Science is introduced by way of observation rather  than analysis and with artistic appraisal.
 

movement.. crafts.. rhythm...
Children all regularly learn handwork and modelling and go on to practical activities such as gardening and wood-work.  They are taken on various outings, walks and for swimming.  They have the opportunity in the summer to go canoeing.  Children are encouraged to skip, balance and climb a rope, as well as to vault, jump, row a boat and other such accomplishments. They also have lessons in eurythmy, an artistic form of movement that helps develop poise and co-ordination.  11 year-olds attend the Greek Olympic games held at Michael Hall school at Forest Row, Sussex.
 

outings...
School policy is to undertake several outings every year, sch as to Sheringham beach, Suffolk Wildlife Park and Norwich Castle museum. The children are aso taken to local swimming pools.
 

health...
An approach to a healthy life-style is fostered generally along anthroposophic lines.  Caution is urged in respect of computer games, television and mobile telephones. Parents are encouraged to consult a local  homoeopathic medical practitioner for children's health problems rather than treat them with a standard conventional approach.  Organic and biodynamic food is available locally.  Our aim is to see happy, healthy and really fit children.

holistic.. non-competitive...
There is, a wide curriculum covered in the school that seeks to introduce the world to the child and to which the child can respond in a loving way.   The educational approach is non-competitive, yet children learn to work out of themselves, to become well-motivated and balanced individuals, out of freedom able to apply themselves to life.  On leaving the school, children may with confidence enter mainstream schools or continue their secondary education towards higher education at a full  Steiner Waldorf school. Telephone for an appointment on 01603 783539.
 
 



an education for life.

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The Norwich Steiner School Association Limited. Registered Charity No. 8034000.
Registered with the Steiner Waldorf Schools Fellowship as a  'Steiner Project School.'
Website:  www.norstein.50megs.com     E-mail:  emailnorstein@yahoo.co.uk